NMap 6.0 arrives

Fyodor’s finest since 2009

Common Topics

Popular open source network discovery and security auditing tool Nmap has reached version 6.0.

The new code hit the Net last Monday, complete with a message from coder Gordon Lyon, aka Fyodor, that the new version represents “almost three years of work, 3,924 code commits, and more than a dozen point releases since the big Nmap 5 release in July 2009.”

Fyodor recommends all users upgrade to the new version, so they can get their hands on 289 new scripts and a host of new features. The six he rates most important are:

An enhanced scripting engine

Better web scanning

Full IPv6 support

A new Nping tool that can generate all sorts of packets

Improvements to the Zenmap GUI (pictured below)

Faster scanning

Nmap is very widely used, including in Hollywood … which Fyodor proudly points out has used it in more than a dozen flicks, including The Matrix. ®